Tag: Family

An occupation of an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) building in Portland attracted more protesters on Wednesday, growing from a rally in response to the Trump administration policy of separating parents from children at the southern border. Donald Trump signs executive order to end family separations Read more Around 6.45pm, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) vehicles blocked a facing street and moved in on the building’s western entrance. Officers parted protesters and entered the building. Quick guide Why are families being separated at US border? Why are children being separated from their families? What happens to the children? Can these children be reunited with their parents? When an influx of families and unaccompanied children fleeing Central America arrived at the border in 2014, Barack Obama’s administration detained families. Later, the driver appeared to accelerate and glancingly hit a protester, Juliette Morgans, who was filming the incident. They come here seeking safety and asylum, and they get violence protester People were spread around the perimeter of the Ice facility, blocking entrances to buildings and car parks .

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — With no mention of President Donald Trump, candidates for an open congressional seat along the U.S. border in New Mexico blamed Washington politics for the separation of immigrant children from parents who are caught trying to come to the U.S. illegally. The zero tolerance policy on border security that led to the separations has rocked political campaigns in border states and sent Republicans on Capitol Hill frantically searching Tuesday for ways to end it. Water rights attorney Xochitl Torres Small, the Democratic candidate in New Mexico's sprawling 2nd Congressional District, said Tuesday that separating children from parents is immoral and Washington is to blame. "I won't stand for it." Republican Rep. Steve Pearce is not seeking re-election to the seat and is instead running for governor. Trump won the district in 2016 but lost statewide. State Rep. Yvette Herrell, the Republican candidate, said she supports Trump's zero-tolerance policy but described the separations as an unacceptable consequence of inaction by Congress. Homeland Security Department officials said Tuesday that 2,342 minors had been separated from parents from May 5 to June 9. Pearce has said it is almost never a good idea to separate children from families and that immigrant children need to be treated humanely and reasonably. U.S. Rep. Michelle Lujan, his Democratic competitor in the governor's race, accused the Trump administration of willfully creating inhumane consequences for immigrant children and parents.

President Trump blames Congressional Democrats for inaction on immigration reform, says he is 'working on something'; chief White House correspondent John Roberts reports. FOX News Channel (FNC) is a 24-hour all-encompassing news service dedicated to delivering breaking news as well…

In this photo provided by U.S. Customs and Border Protection, people who have been taken into custody related to cases of illegal entry into the United States sit in one of the cages at a facility in McAllen, Texas on Sunday. There you have the most contentious issue in U.S. politics over the last few weeks. Sessions and Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen have defended the Trump administration’s enforcement of the “zero-tolerance” policy. Late Sunday, however, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen tweeted: “We do not have a policy of separating families at the border. Period.” “For those seeking asylum at ports of entry, we have continued the policy from previous Administrations and will only separate if the child is in danger, there is no custodial relationship between ‘family’ members, or if the adult has broken a law,” Nielsen added. Therefore, it doesn’t matter whether we have a “policy” of separating families or not. If the policy is designed to arrest all who cross the border illegally, it will lead to families being separated. For those who didn’t see it, Laura Bush — wife of a Republican president who could hardly be called a liberal — wrote an op-ed in the Washington Post calling the situation cruel and immoral. She summarized the issue neatly: “The reason for these separations is a zero-tolerance policy for their parents, who are accused of illegally crossing our borders,” Bush wrote. For their parents.

NBC's Mariana Atencio asks migrant mothers why they are illegally crossing the border, knowing that they could be prosecuted and separated from their children. One mother answers: "I'm freeing violence from Honduras -- our lives are threatened. We cannot be…

However, ICE apparently has taken steps to reunite families if the parent is to be deported. From a Trump tweet on 6/16/18: Democrats can fix their forced family breakup at the Border by working with Republicans on new legislation, for a change! We do not have a policy of separating families at the border. This, right here, is why Democrats really need to figure out messaging. They should be accusing the administration of violating state laws which protect children from endangerment. They should be be hammering the administration into a corner on these issues with questions like: If the strategy of separating parents from children isn't new and the immigration laws haven't changed for the past decade, then why did these numbers begin to spike 6 weeks ago? If this is a new strategy of existing laws, then why is the Secretary of Homeland Security denying it? What we would need is a special investigation to review the thousands of immigration cases over the past year to reunite children with their parents, if their parents or relatives can still be contacted - they might have been deported already, and if they were applying for asylum they are not likely in a situation where they can continue to care for their children. (I'm a bot) MCALLEN, Texas - Two months after the Trump administration began separating children from their parents along the US-Mexico border, immigration authorities cannot say what procedures exist to reunite children with their parents after the parents' illegal-entry cases have been resolved but their immigration case is still pending. Lee Gelernt, the deputy director of the American Civil Liberties Union's Immigrants' Rights Project, who is the lead lawyer suing the Trump administration for separating immigrant parents from their children, said immigration authorities are not reuniting children and parents even after the parents have served their time, which is usually two to three days.

(CNN)The White House's "zero tolerance" immigration policy and resulting separations of undocumented parents and kids is exploding into the most emotive and politically unpredictable test yet of President Donald Trump's effort to change the character of America. It's not just the usual Democrats who are criticizing the administration -- some prominent Republicans, including first lady Melania Trump and former first lady Laura Bush, religious leaders and influential figures in Trump's conservative evangelical base are also speaking out. "It's an atrocious policy," former White House communications director and Trump ally Anthony Scaramucci said on CNN's "New Day" Monday. Current first lady Melania Trump also expressed concern about the situation, though she did not break with her husband's position that only Congress can stop the separations. But the separations storm is injecting an unpredictable dimension to a critical week ahead in the immigration debate that sources tell CNN will include a meeting between Trump and GOP lawmakers on Tuesday. The House could vote as early as this week on a plan that would address family separations although the legislation would do little to change the underlying practice that has been implemented under the Trump administration. If the administration continues that practice, parents and children would still be separated. Three sources told CNN that Trump will meet House Republicans at the Capitol on Tuesday to discuss next steps on immigration, a gathering that could seal the fate of the House's hard-fought compromise immigration bill. And so you have to pay attention to that," House Freedom Caucus Chairman Mark Meadows told reporters Friday. After spending a week already earlier in the year trying and failing to fix the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, there is little appetite among Republican leaders for a new immigration debate before the midterms.

I’m having a hard time sleeping. Just last night I was up for three hours, awake in a panic about someone trying to take my daughter from me. The terror wasn’t real for me, of course. My seven-year-old – my child who doesn’t like it when I leave for overnight business trips – was asleep in her bedroom, doing just fine. Over the course of six weeks, the US government took 2,000 children and separated them from their parents. Children who are confused, in a new country, and without their families. Spare me the calls for civility – President Trump deserves our rage | Jessica Valenti Read more The Trump administration is defending the policy as biblical, as if there could be anything godly about traumatizing and torturing children. I’m glad to see that people have been in the street – last week there were protests across the country. Sleep should not come easily to any of us until it happens. The Trump administration is making the decision to do this and does not have to do it.

The couple came to their first meeting for two reasons: both to check out the latest firearms and to stand up for an organization they believe is under attack. “We really wanted to be able to see this someday,” Joe Henderson said, gesturing to a massive convention center filled with guns and ammunition. There are seminars on firearm safety and Second Amendment law. Some said they were here just to see guns and wanted nothing to do with politics. “It just makes me angry when people try to demonize gun owners and NRA members,” said Scott Glenn, a retired law enforcement officer from Salida, Colo. “They try to look at all of us like baby killers and we’re not.” Glenn and his wife, Lynn, have been NRA members for 18 years. The couple sat at a table near a rack of .22 rifles in candy colors: red, purple and yellow. They applauded when he said that “Second Amendment rights are under siege” and called on members to vote Republican. Stewart thinks bump stocks should be illegal, that civilian background checks should be as robust as those in the military and that the age to own rifles such as the AR-15 should be raised to 21, with exceptions for people in the military or law enforcement. “I think they’re spot on and refuse to give up our rights,” Glenn said. Many people, she said, just don’t know gun owners.

Federal Labor Member for Perth Tim Hammond has announced he is resigning from Parliament, triggering a by-election in one of Western Australia's highest-profile seats, saying he cannot be a federal politician and a good father to his three children under six. Tim Hammond says he is leaving federal politics to spend more time at home Voters in the seat of Perth will now face a by-election before the next federal poll It is believed WA Labor state secretary Patrick Gorman could be a candidate Mr Hammond, 43, said the toll the job was taking on his family was too great. "It wasn't working in relation to how present I needed to be at home, as a dad to three wonderful little children. The six-month-old was an unexpected but wonderful blessing that wasn't on the cards when I was elected two years ago. By-election to test Labor's popularity in WA Mr Hammond confirmed that his resignation would take effect in the near future, meaning the voters of Perth would face a by-election before the next federal poll scheduled for 2019. "After two years of travel and a lot of time spent on the opposite side of the country, Tim has decided to put his family first," Mr Shorten said. His WA colleague, Member for Burt Matt Keogh, said the fly-in fly-out (FIFO) lifestyle of MPs from WA was very hard on families. Hammond 'probably not interested' in state politics WA Premier Mark McGowan described Mr Hammond's decision as brave but understandable. Mr McGowan said federal MPs often had to spend long periods away from their families. But Mr McGowan indicated Mr Hammond had not sought to move into state politics.